Saturday, May 18, 2013

5/18/13 - iPhone Saves the Day

It was a good day - unlike the aforementioned yesterday. We saw three of the biggest, baddest tornadoes in our chase career. While John may take credit for this exceptional score, due to his quality forecasting skills, I actually think it was because we DID stay at a Holiday Inn Express the night before. And another thing (as though there was a first thing), it seems like most chasers nowadays all have vehicles decked out with fancy-schmancy equipment and logos and paint jobs and enough antennas to make a porcupine blush. We, on the other hand, come armed with old-school basics - our wits, our laptop and whatever weather-buff equipment we can get on SkyMall on the flight in. But I digress.

What really made my day was my iPhone. It provided us with a multitude of good information the entire day. First of all, the phone acted as a helpful aid to John's morning run. While I employ the use of a no-nonsense Garmin watch to inform me of the very basics, such as time, pace and distance, John goes a step further and carries his i-SmartyPhone. Not only does the phone provide the Garmin basics but it also is able to interject helpful and encouraging comments along the way. While John is plugging along he may likely hear such chirpy comments from a female voice in his rear pocket as "Looking Good!" and "Almost there!". But, on the downside, as John's pace began to sag, other less-helpful comments would emanate from "iCoach" - "Pick it Up!"..."You call that running?'"..."Stop walking!"..and my favorite "Your current pace is infinity minutes per mile, ya big loser!" To make this worse, John's iPhone continued to berate his workout well into the early hours of our chase.

The other nice service my iPhone provided me today, was up-to-the-minute results from my oldest daughter's pole vault results, at the League Championships in California. I got jump-by-jump updates from her mom, which ultimately resulted in her placing high enough,as a freshman, to move on to the Section Championships. Her great efforts provided further stimulus for us to succeed.

The final benefit of the trusty iPhone is its ability to allow us to brag to our friends and family about our meteorological exploits of the day. We were able to text, email and blog all our amazing photos while dining at AppleBees. "Look everyone, how wonderful we are"...."Pass the salt"

Due to the lateness of our chases the last couple days, we had to resort to the late-night dining establishments in town. This being pretty much either AppleBees or McDonalds. Since Mickey Dees did not serve alcohol, we resorted to the Two-for-Twenty Dollars place. While AppleBees may have a bar, do not confuse the people behind the bar as "bartenders". They are basically "beer slingers" and the occasional foo-foo drink concoctionaters. We made the mistake of trying to order a...civilized...drink. I asked for a glass of the Kendall Jackson chardonnay. The waitress gave me a blank look. I pointed to the menu, as she wrote it down, in hopes that the "bartender" could decipher. John continued the barrage of libation overload on the obviously new waitress, by ordering a "real" (gin) martini. Again the blank look times two. She was not sure they even had martinis but she could ask. Not a good sign. John compounded her confusion by asking what gin was available. I stifled a laugh. She wrote down John's request and promised to report back from the bar. While my glass of chardonnay came as hoped, John's "gin martini, Bombay, extra-cold, two olives and just a bit of vermouth proved to be bar-dude overload. What arrived was essentially olive juice with a shot of gin. Not good. Lesson learned. Stick to beer here.